All three point to Turkey’s growing confidence and efficiency in conducting its foreign policy. But they also point to the difficulties Turkey will face as it becomes a more assertive player in regional and global affairs.All three events underlie an important element in the new Turkish foreign policy. With Greece, Turkey is improving its bilateral relations with its neighbors. With Russia, Turkey is strengthening its position on regional issues. And with the Turkey-Iran-Brazil agreement, it shows that it is becoming a significant player in global affairs. Those who see a limited role for Turkey in regional and global affairs need to rethink their position. Turkey is directly involved in every single issue in its immediate neighborhood. But some of these issues, like the Iranian nuclear issue and the future of Iraq, are not simple regional issues; they form the borderlines of global politics. The Russian-Greek-Iranian triangle shows that Turkey is raising its profile in regional and global affairs.
To start with Russia, after a long hiatus in direct relations, the Turkish and Russian leaders have visibly increased their official contacts. Over the last few years, a dozen or so visits from each side were paid and numerous diplomatic and economic agreements were signed. To boost Turkish-Russian relations, the two countries agreed to establish a High-Level Cooperation Council, which Turkey has also established with several other countries including Iraq, Syria and most recently Greece.
Medvedev described the cooperation council as “evidence that things are going quite well.” Besides the visa issue, the two countries signed a major agreement to have Russia build four nuclear reactors with the first one to be built in the Turkish city of Akkuyu. This $20 billion project is an intergovernmental agreement and therefore will need the approval of the Turkish Parliament. The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government may face some opposition there because critics think this will increase Turkey’s dependence on Russia for energy. But nuclear technology is not like buying oil or gas. It is a transferrable technology which Turkey plans to own in the long run.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to Athens last Friday was a historic event. Prime Minister Erdogan traveled to Athens with 10 ministers and businessmen, showing that he means business with Greece. The High-Level Cooperation Council was a huge success, so were the agreements signed. We have never seen anything like this in the long history of Turks and Greeks. Both Erdoğan and George Papandreou addressed the tough issues of the Aegean Sea, the islands and Cyprus.
But they also moved Turkish-Greek relations to a new level by signing 21 agreements on such diverse issues as immigration, visas, transportation and cultural-educational cooperation. Now a new page has been turned in the checkered history of these two nations. Turks should move with courage and sympathy toward their neighbors and address their issues in an open and sincere manner. I am confident that this attitude will be reciprocated by the Greeks.
Finally, the agreement signed by Turkey, Iran and Brazil to exchange low-enriched uranium through Turkey demonstrates Turkey’s increasing efficiency and credibility in global politics. It is unfortunate that Americans and Europeans are now underestimating the value of this agreement and claiming that the deal is not enough. As Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said in İstanbul on Monday, though, this agreement was prepared in consultation with the P-5 (i.e., the US, Russia, China, France and Britain) and Germany.
If the Americans reject this deal and go for sanctions, as they have said they will do, they will lose all their credibility and give Iran all the justification to walk away from the nuclear talks. But they will also strain their relations with Turkey, Brazil and dozens of other countries that support the Turkish-brokered deal.
The Russian-Greek-Iranian triangle in chronological order shows the extent to which Turkish foreign policy has become multidimensional. This alone should be enough to put behind us the not-so-intelligent debate about Turkey shifting its traditional axis from the West to some new frontiers. Instead, we should focus on who is really making a genuine contribution to regional stability and global peace these days.
